Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said that his kingdom wanted to normalise relations with Israel through US President Donald Trump's so-called Abraham Accords, but first needed a "clear path" to Palestinian statehood.
"We want to be part of the Abraham Accords. But we want also to be sure that we secure a clear path of two-state solution," Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince said in the Oval Office alongside Trump on Tuesday.
"We're going to work on that, to be sure that we can prepare the right situation as soon as possible," he added.
Pressed by Trump, who said that his guest had a "very good feeling" for the Abraham accords, the prince said: "We want peace for the Israelis. We want peace for the Palestinians."
"We want them to coexist peacefully in the region, and we will do our best to reach that date."
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said that Palestinian statehood is its goal.
Netanyahu has long opposed a two-state solution, despite a lukewarm endorsement of Palestinian aspirations in a ceasefire agreement in Gaza pushed by Trump.
Netanyahu leads a coalition with extremist supporters who not only reject Palestinian statehood but want Israel to annex the occupied West Bank.
Jonathan Panikoff, former deputy national intelligence officer on the Middle East, said that while Trump will urge bin Salman to move toward normalising ties with Israel, any lack of progress there is unlikely to hinder reaching a new US-Saudi security pact.
"President Trump’s desire for investment into the US, which the crown prince previously promised, could help soften the ground for expanding defense ties even as the president is determined to advance Israeli-Saudi normalisation," said Panikoff, now at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington.
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Source: TRT